1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to bonded, walk-off compensated optical elements.
2. Background Art
Note that the following discussion refers to a number of publications by author(s) and year of publication, and that due to recent publication dates certain publications are not to be considered as prior art vis-a-vis the present invention. Discussion of such publications herein is given for more complete background and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are prior art for patentability determination purposes.
The present invention comprises a bonded, walk-off compensated crystal and methods of making the same. In one embodiment, a bonded, walk-off compensated crystal comprises at least one nonlinear optical crystal wherein at least one nonlinear optical crystal is bonded to at least one other crystal. According to this embodiment, and others, the bonded crystals comprise a single crystal even though one of ordinary skill in the art may argue that bonding methods presented herein, and equivalents thereof, do not create a single crystal. Accordingly, xe2x80x9ccrystalxe2x80x9d for purposes of the specification and claims is defined to also include bonded, walk-off compensated crystals. Further to this embodiment, the at least one other crystal optionally comprises a nonlinear optical crystal. In another variation of this embodiment, the compensated crystal optionally comprises at least one walk-off compensated bonded crystal pair wherein the at least one bonded crystal pair optionally comprises at least one nonlinear crystal pair.
As disclosed herein, crystals suitable for use with the present invention optionally comprise at least one crystal selected from the group consisting of BaB2O4, LiNbO3, LilO3, KTiOPO4, RbTiOAsO4, LiB3O5, and KH2PO4.
The present invention also comprises methods for making a bonded, walk-off compensated crystal. According to one embodiment, the invention comprises a method of making a bonded, walk-off compensated crystal comprising the steps of: providing two crystals; orientating the two crystals; and bonding the orientated crystals. In this particular method, the bonding step optionally comprises the steps of: optical contacting the two oriented crystals; and heating the contacted, oriented crystals to a temperature less than the melting point of either crystal. Alternatively, or in conjunction with this aforementioned method of bonding, the two crystals optionally comprise silica and the step of bonding optionally comprises the step of introducing a basic solution between the two crystals to initiate hydroxide catalyzed bonding of the two crystals. In yet another alternative, or in conjunction with these aforementioned methods of bonding, the step of bonding comprises the steps of: contacting the two crystals; applying pressure to the two crystals; and heating the two crystals to a temperature less than the temperature at which a crystal to liquid phase transition occurs for the given pressure.
According to the methods of the present invention, the two crystals optionally comprise crystals selected from the group consisting of BaB2O4, LiNbO3, LilO3, KTiOPO4, RbTiOAsO4, LiB3O5, and KH2PO4.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide better walk-off compensated optical components.
A primary advantage of the present invention is to provide better performing optical components.
Other objects, advantages and novel features, and further scope of applicability of the present invention will be set forth in part in the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.